Synonyms for threaten
Definitions
- v. 1
To make a threat against someone; to use threats.
He threatened me with a knife.
- v. 2
To menace, or be dangerous.
The rocks threatened the ship's survival.
Related words
- Word family
- threatening threatensome
Forms
- Past participle
- threatened
e.g. threatened → endangered, jeopardized, imperiled, menaced…
Choose the right word
Threaten is Anglo-Saxon, and menace is Latin.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Example sentences
- menace This kind of bomb is a serious menace to mankind.
- intimidate They tried to intimidate Muslim students on the campus.
- endanger I would never do anything that could endanger Tom.
- imperil Mean men's talk is enough to imperil the world.
- presage A crow's cry at midnight was said to presage death in the village.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| threaten | rising | |
| menace | falling | |
| intimidate | rising | |
| endanger | falling | |
| imperil | falling | |
| presage | steady |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- brew1
- 5 letters
- drive1, peril2, augur2
- 6 letters
- hector2, menace2, impend2
- 7 letters
- imperil3, presage2, portend2
- 8 letters
- confront2, endanger3, denounce2, forebode2
- 10 letters
- intimidate4, jeopardize3, jeopardise
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (peril2 = 2 syllables).
In other languages
- Français
- menacer
- Italiano
- minacciare
- Español
- amenazar
- Deutsch
- bevorstehen
- Català
- amenaçar